PM invites JOF for dialogue tomorrow

Dr Kamal hopes to cut Gordian knot over polls, so does US envoy

News Special
Amid hope and despair, Jatiya Oikya Front leaders are
going to dialogue with the government tomorrow
evening trying to cut the Gordian knot facing another
election nearby.
A spark of hope is generated by the prime minister's
invitation for them to the talks in an apparent fast
reversal of pessimism overshadowing the political
arena so long while a sense of despair makes the main
opposition force downhearted with the double jailing
of the former premier and their de-facto chief.
The stage is expeditiously set. Three past days make
a gulf difference in the mode: from a note of
acrimony to harmony.
Front leader Dr Kamal Hossain wrote to Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina, also President of the ruling Awami
League, Sunday seeking dialogue on their seven-point
demands for resolving the electoral issues. Sharp
came a reply the following day, accepting the
proposal. And the day after, Tuesday, the prime
minister in writing invited the JOF to the proposed
dialogue set for tomorrow at 7pm at Ganobhaban.
The developments not only generated hope in the
political arena but also in the diplomatic circles in
Dhaka, as is evident from instant observations.
Dr Kamal holds the belief that problems centering
round the upcoming general election can be sorted out
through such discussion.
"We're trying on. You see, here it starts," the
eminent jurist retorted to queries from inquisitive
reports Tuesday when they wanted to know if it would
be possible to resolve the prevailing political
crisis that had held the opposition away from the
last polls, too.
Outgoing US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat welcomed the
proposed dialogue between the government and the
newly formed Jatiya Oikya Front. "I am optimistic,"
she told reporters after her farewell meeting with
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali at the State
Guesthouse Padma.
"We the citizens in the democracy have every
responsibility to demand of our government to give us
conditions to choose anyone to lead us," said the
envoy about the practice back home, in the United
States.
She also later called on the prime minister when
matters of politics and polls also came up during
exchange of views.
However, mixed feelings were aired from BNP, the
fulcrum of the new greater opposition grouping, as
party chief and ex-PM Khaleda Zia was sentenced to
seven years in jail Monday and her five-year
imprisonment doubled to ten years just Tuesday in
twin graft cases.
BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
said at a press conference on the day that the High
Court verdict "totally stunned" them as he said it is
meant for keeping their chief off politics and polls.
"How far this dialogue will be successful is a
lurking question in public mind," he later said in
reply to reporters about the possible outcome of the
set discussion with the ruling side.
AL office secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap Tuesday
carried the invitation letter to Dr Kamal Hossain's
Bailey Road residence around 7:45am, as the ball was
set rolling at the fag-end of the tenures of the
tenth parliament and the incumbent government.
The parliament was prorogued on Monday night and kept
in suspended animation as per current provisions of
the constitution and an interim cabinet would be
formed anytime soon for the election time.
In the letter, the Prime Minister said, "Take Salam
and greetings. Thank you for your letter dated
October 28, 2018. My door is always open for
discussion on all constitutional issues for the
continuation of the democratic trend earned through
immense struggles and sacrifices. So, I invite you
(Oikyafront leaders) to Ganobhaban at 7pm on November
1 next as you sought time for talks."
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on
Monday night had phoned Oikya Front leader and Gano
Forum general secretary Mostafa Mohsin Montu seeking
the list of the alliance leaders who will join the
dialogue with the ruling party over the next
election.
Earlier in the day, Quader said their party President
and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed to sit in
dialogue with the Front leaders over the next general
election very soon, in reply to Sunday's JOF letter
to the Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, the national united front in a meeting
later Tuesday finalized their talking points on their
demands and objectives and a delegation for the
dialogue. A 16-member panel with Dr Kamal and BNP
leader Fakhrul at the head will sit with the AL side
for the crucial make-or-break dialogue.
Front leader ASM Abdur Rab told reporters after the
meeting, "All issues will be discussed-whether people
will be able to vote, if votes can be preserved…"
Obaidul Quader said, "Continuity of democratic
dispensation is behind convening dialogue."
Discussion will take place in a free and frank
manner, he added.
Other leaders in their talk stuck to the
constitutional provisions in matter of the holding of
the election-under the prime minister in government
and without dissolution of parliament.
The two main ones in the seven-point demands of the
combined opposition are polls under a neutral
'election-time government' and dissolution of
parliament, besides release of Khaleda Zia.
Asked if any possibility of a Jamaat leader taking
part in the dialogue with the prime minister,
Jahangir Kabir Nanak said, "It seems to me that
there's no confusion. Dr Kamal Hossain said that he
would not be with Jamaat."
AL presidium member Dr Md. Abdur Razzak firmly said
that there was no option for dialogue with any
political party other than the Jatiya Oikya Front.
"There is no chance of any non-registered party to
participate in the dialogue. We are not sitting with
the BNP, but with Oikyafront, and expecting all the
problems will be solved at the dialogue table," he
said.
As they mentioned their seven-point demands and 11
goals in the letter, so there is no denying of their
demands, Nanak further said, adding: "The discussion
will be held at the table."
He added: "This newly formed cabinet will be the
election-time government and the election will be
held under the election commission, not under the
government."
There is a possibility that the size of newly
formed government will be same as the present one, he
said. "New faces may or may not be added."
(Inputs taken from agencies, live media reports)